Since Evansville’s humble beginnings in 1812 as McGary’s Landing on a bank of the Ohio River, the riverfront has undergone tremendous change. Through imagery, this blog looks at the first century of this evolution.
Read More
Evansville's location on the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek made the city a good location for mills. In the early days, water provided mills with the power to generate energy to operate. This article covers a few examples of Evansville's flour mills.
Read More
Some of the more historically interesting items in the collection of the Evansville Museum are the Wartime Log and other material of Charles C. Huppert (1918-2010)—a prisoner of war (POW) at Stalag Luft III in German occupied territory during World War II.
Read More
Before the days of electronic media and social postings, postcards were a primary way for people to share their travels with the folks back home or to share greetings with friends and family. Whether one was on an adventure or wanting to drop a quick note, postcards were sent illustrating exciting experiences and/or to simply stay in touch.
Read More
From 1902-1957 both Hercules and Servel were major employers in Evansville as they produced significant products, including horse-drawn buggies, gas engines, refrigerators, and wings for P-47 fighter planes during World War II. Later, through 1975, the Whirlpool Corporation utilized portions of the former Hercules and Servel facilities.
Read More
On your visits to the Evansville Museum, you may have seen the bust known as “The Lady of the Grand”. This bust adorned the Grand Opera House, one of many structures designed by the Reid brothers in late 19th century Evansville. After making their mark in our city, the brothers, James and Merritt, relocated to the west coast where they received acclaim for their architectural designs.
Read More
Buildings serve as a reflection of the ever-changing attitudes and needs of people as pertains to their physical surroundings. Since the founding of Evansville, the citizens of the city have witnessed the construction and razing of many structures. This blog recalls three interesting buildings from the city's past with the hope that this will stir memories of these structures and of others and promote further consideration of our built environment. Whether one believes that Evansville has progressed architecturally since the time of these historic structures or that the city has lost meaningful links to the past, these buildings provide a reminder of key segments of our community's heritage.
Read More
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries three men from Evansville were high ranking diplomates in the United States government—Secretary of State John W. Foster, Minister to China Charles Denby, Sr., and Minister to Liberia George Washington Buckner. What follows are brief looks at their professional lives. I encourage you to do further research into the lives and legacies of these three fascinating men. If you do so, you will learn more about their links to our country’s history.
Read More
Today, we take for granted the convenience of traveling on modern roads that connect us to communities throughout the Tri-State. Did you know that in the pre and early automobile eras that there was another form of transportation that interlocked our area?
Read More
With the 77th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion occurring soon, an operation in which LST 325 participated, I want to re-share some memories from my first visit to the ship twenty years ago. This occurred only eight months after LST 325 arrived in Mobile, Alabama, following its acquisition from the Greek government and after an arduous trip across the Atlantic Ocean undertaken by a determined group of LST veterans.
Read More
During our lives we have all faced challenging times and certainly history shares stories of unimaginable trials. One such story, a portion of which is likely familiar to many Evansvillians, is that of Alice Gresham Dodd the mother of James Bethel Gresham, the first United States combat fatality of World War I.
Read More